These used to be the stereotypical hallmarks of live comedy, an art relegated to the controlled environs of smoky, crowded mainstream comedy clubs.

Lucky for us, a new breed of comedians has rejected the stale format. The alternative comedy movement of the 1990s has morphed into something unpredictable and cerebral. Something more akin to the visceral, anti-establishment ethos of punk and indie rock.

Call it indie comedy.

New York, L.A. and Chicago have known about independent comedy for at least five years, with names like David Cross, Patton Oswalt, Todd Barry and Neil Hamburger packing rooms weekly. Thanks to networks like Comedy Central, networking sites like MySpace Comedy and video sharing on YouTube and SuperDeluxe.com, it’s infiltrating the heartland.

Even local indie comedy troupes like Wrist Deep Productions and Secret Circus are finding larger, more appreciative audiences. They are redefining what it means to see live comedy and breathing energy into an art form that sorely needed it.

Indie rock inspiration

“All comedians want to be musicians and vice versa,” states a cliché in entertainment circles. Let’s update that: “All indie rockers want to be comedians, and vice versa.”

Thanks to a trailblazing tour by comic David Cross, an alumnus of such brilliant shows as “Arrested Development” and HBO’s “Mr. Show,” the waters were tested for a new type of venue, and they were warm indeed.

Cross toured music venues instead of comedy clubs in 2001 and brought the band Ultrababyfat with him. His unexpected success got Sub Pop Records interested, resulting in a groundbreaking tour CD and DVD.

Like-minded comic Eugene Mirman later signed to the label, and Cross’ “innovator” status has only grown.

But Cross won’t take credit for it.

“Certainly alt-comedy gave birth to indie comedy, but it’s less a distinction than an evolution,” he said. “The ideals aren’t different and the culture isn’t different. It’s just taking what people considered alternative and conducting it differently. It’s about where you’re performing and how the night feels.”

The indie comedy scene, though, feels distinct from alt-comedy, which had its roots in L.A. in the early ’90s with such comics as Bob Odenkirk, Janeane Garofalo, Beth Lapides and others.

Finding new audiences

Comedians are increasingly acting like bands. Not rock stars, mind you, but college rock bands. Instead of comedy clubs, they perform at dive bars, rock festivals and art galleries. They release albums on indie and metal labels. They even tour with groups at times, playing before and after the music.

“There is a commonality between a lot of the bands and the comics,” said Cross, who has long championed acts like the Strokes, Superchunk and Guided by Voices.

“There’s a kind of an awe and overly undue amount of respect given to the other person. People are like, ‘Man, I can’t believe you just get up by yourself and talk for an hour and a half.’ But I’m like, ‘I wouldn’t know how to get up and play guitar for an hour.”‘

Like a handful of others, Gregg Turkington and his alter ego/character Neil Hamburger toured rock clubs years before Cross. A San Francisco musician and writer, Turkington parlayed Hamburger’s anti-comedy prank calls into a record deal with Drag City, a Chicago label that boasts artists including Joanna Newsom and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy. Former “Will & Grace” writer and comic Laura Kightlinger also calls the label home.

But like Cross, Hamburger refuses to take credit for starting the exodus toward music venues.

“I wasn’t the first, it’s just that there was a period where no one was doing this,” he said. “If you go back to the 1970s, groups like Fleetwood Mac would have a comedian open for them, and of course your great singers – Frank Sinatra, Jack Jones – always had comedians open for them.”

Demetri Martin, a Comedy Central regular who hosts the “Trendspotting” segment on “The Daily Show,” said performers are seeking the right audience, regardless of whether it’s in a rock club or theater.

“It’s really just a basic ecosystem,” he said. “Comedy clubs used to have a lock on that, and it doesn’t seem like they do anymore.

“People think indie comedians are weird, but then you find out about early Woody Allen and Bill Cosby and Steve Martin. Our incarnation now is called ‘indie rock,’ but it’s just a response to something that was predated by something else.”

True – but Woody Allen never signed with a death-metal label.

Funny nerds

Comedian Brian Posehn, a veteran of “Mr. Show” and “Just Shoot Me,” recently released “Live In: Nerd Rage!” on the metal label Relapse. His humor deals with an unabashed love of comic books and sci-fi movies, among other topics. His origins include sketches with Maynard Keenan, lead singer of Tool, which melded his love of metal with a twisted sense of humor.

“I think we all kind of owe it to David (Cross),” Posehn said. “He made that connection first with Sub Pop, and Patton (Oswalt) jumped right in and did it with Aimee Mann’s label. It’s so smart and so obvious too. We all kind of went, ‘Oh yeah, of course. We should be on a music label.”‘

Along with founder Oswalt (“King of Queens”), Zach Galifianakis (“Dog Bites Man”) and Maria Bamford (SuperDeluxe.com), Posehn is part of the “Comedians of Comedy,” a tour that has played rock venues like Emo’s in Austin, Texas. Its success spawned a cult documentary film, live films and multiple national jaunts.

“There have been indie comedy fans in L.A. for a while,” Posehn said. “But in the last five years on message boards, you see somebody in Kansas practically crying because they can’t be at some show with their favorite comics in L.A. As my manager would say, it was an untapped market.”

Rimshots

“Saturday Night Live” cast member Fred Armisen got into comedy after drumming for the punk band Trenchmouth. He mocked Austin’s SXSW music festival in a short film and immediately caught the attention of the comedy world. He has directed music videos and appeared in the acclaimed Wilco documentary, “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart.”

“I’ve been able to spend time with some very smart and funny comedians,” Armisen said. “I get to watch my favorites, as well as hang out with them.”

Armisen said nobody wants to see a comedian or actor play music seriously, but for some reason, the opposite can be true. Superchunk drummer Jon Wurster is part of the Scharpling & Wurster comedy team, longtime hosts of New Jersey free-form radio station’s “Best Show on WFMU.”

“The drummer is always the funniest,” Cross said. “Always.”

A comedy clubbing

Geof Wills books comedy acts for Live Nation, from Dave Chappelle to Demetri Martin. He said the trend away from comedy clubs is all about the performers’ identity.

“The money’s not quite as good, but it’s more about the vibe they’re chasing. Some of them aren’t getting work in the mainstream clubs because they don’t fit the X-amount of jokes per minute,” he said. “Plus, some clubs are worried about offending their audiences. They won’t admit to censoring themselves, but they do.”

“They get to do what they want because that audience is there just to see them,” Wills said. “Whereas with a comedy club, you’ve got a bunch of morons showing up just for laughs or to heckle someone. They’re not particularly nurturing places. They want every seat full.”

Ben Kronberg, a partner in Denver’s Wrist Deep Productions, has performed at both Comedy Works and rock bars.

“It’s about not wanting to be defined and restricted by the idea that comedy has to happen in a comedy club,” he said. “It’s something that has more pure life to it, not something that’s on life support.”

John Wenzel is a member of the Now Team, having covered comedy, music, film, books and video games for The Denver Post for more than a decade. As a proud Dayton, Ohio native, his love of Guided by Voices is about equal to his other obsessions, including Peter Jackson's Middle-earth, "Mr. Show" quotes and Onitsuka Tigers.